Debt collectors to pay $75,000 settlement
Peabody law firm also to implement new procedures
By Michael Rezendes, Globe Staff | November 1, 2006

After a two-year investigation based on more than 100 complaints, a Peabody debt-collection law firm will pay $75,000 and implement procedures to protect indebted consumers under an agreement unveiled yesterday by the state attorney general's office.

Thomas F. Reilly, the attorney general, alleged that representatives of the J.A. Cambece Law Office PC violated state and federal debt-collection laws by using profane language, placing calls to consumers at improper hours, making unauthorized communications with consumers at their places of employment, and failing to provide proof of the validity of debts.

The settlement "imposes restrictions on this firm to protect consumers from abusive practices," Reilly said in a prepared statement. "It also sends a message to the collection industry that abusive tactics will not be tolerated."

In August, the Globe reported that Cambece was being investigated by the attorney general's office. At the time, Nancy Sterling, a spokeswoman for the firm, said the investigation was "based on a small number of complaints."

A Globe Spotlight series in July and August revealed widespread abuses in the debt-collection industry, but the series did not focus on Cambece.

Under the agreement, filed yesterday in Suffolk Superior Court, Cambece assented to a variety of procedures designed to protect debtors. These include recording all telephone conversations with consumers, providing proof of debt -- including at least two monthly statements from the original creditor -- and appointing a supervisor to oversee compliance with state and federal laws.

The settlement also requires Cambece to pay $20,000 in restitution to consumers, $45,000 to a consumer aid fund managed by the attorney general's office, and $10,000 to cover the cost of the state's investigation.

In his statement, Reilly said Cambece cooperated with the investigation. But the firm denies it violated any laws.

"There's no finding by any court that Cambece broke any state or federal law," said Sterling, the spokeswoman for the firm.

The filing "simply confirms a voluntary agreement between the Cambece law firm and the attorney general's office. No enforcement action was filed against the law firm, and no fines or penalties were paid."

 May 2008     Am I ever so happy that I found this website. This so-called Law Firm also has harassed me. They call my residence, my mother, my work and continually harass you for payment. Once I started reading thru Bud’s website and info, I took the upper hand and started the process of notifying these scumbags, STOP CALLING ME!

Once I started the process of faxing and mailing cease letters along with the request for information and credence of the debt, I received a letter back from one of their so-called attorneys. Peter Dauksewicz said; “The firm has received your request… Often this info is archived…It may take some time to retrieve…blah blah blah
Moreover, their client is none other then CACH. One scumbag working for another, if not conspiring with each other.

  April 2008     First off, I want to thank Bud Hibbs for this wonderful website. Without the information contained here, I would have been at a disadvantage going against Tony and his crew.

Long story short...I beat Tony. CACH filed suit in December 06. I filed my response, pro se (representing myself) and a Case Management Conference was set up. Tony, or at least his local rent-a-lawyer didn't show. I did...case dismissed. Tony filed a motion to vacate the dismissal. I filed a simple counter motion. This time Tony's rent-a-lawyer showed up. He had at least a dozen motions from Tony and other collection lawyers. He claimed to have never received my counter motion. I had proof of delivery. I managed to get my shots in when speaking to the judge. They included "sloppy bad lawyering", "check list motions", "paperwork looks like a bad Snoopy Xerox" and "They had their bite at the apple." All that plus my simple counter motion which mentioned that I was losing time from work, must have had a effect. Got the word from court yesterday---Plaintiff's motion is denied.

God bless you, Bud and all who post here. This guy CAN be beaten.

  March 2008     Cambece Law recently called my wife regarding an account. The lady on the phone pressed my wife to send in a large payment, and she requested our checking account to finish the transaction. My wife said that she could not make such a large payment, so the woman put her manager on the phone. This man became very aggressive with my wife. He said that we would be taken to court if we did not make a large payment to Cambece Law as soon as possible. My wife told the man that she could and would not make a large payment to Cambece Law that he demanded, so he told my wife to call a relative and get the money from them to make the large payment. This man became abusive, and he said that Cambece Law would call on a frequent basis until we made a large payment to them. She finally got off the phone with Cambece Law after 30 minutes, and she was very upset. I did some research on Cambece Law, and I found your website. Cambece Law were very intimidating and aggressive, and they made it sound like we would be getting sued very soon. I found your websites information on Cambece Law, and  I felt that I needed to let you know about their actions.

  October 8, 2007     THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR WISDOM. I WISH I HAD SEEN THIS WEBSITE A FEW MONTHS AGO. I HAVE HAD TO DEAL WITH CAMBECE LAW FIRM. I ALWAYS WONDERED WHAT KIND OF BUMBLING IDIOTS ARE THEY, FIRST THEY SENT A SUMMONS TO THE WRONG ADDRESS. THEN WHEN THEY SENT IT TO THE RIGHT ADDRESS THE FRONT PAGE HAD MY NAME AND INFO, BUT ON THE OTHER PAGES WAS SOMEONE ELSE'S NAME AND ADDRESS AND THERE DEBT INFORMATION ON IT. THEN A COUPLE DAYS LATER I GOT ANOTHER SUMMONS WITH ALL THE CORRECT INFO. UNFORTUNATELY THERE WAS A JUDGMENT AGAINST ME i DIDN'T DISPUTE ANYTHING I WAS TOO SCARED AND I AM A LAWFUL PERSON ONLY ONE SPEEDING TICKET MY WHOLE LIFE SO FAR. I SUFFER FROM DEPRESSION AND PANIC ATTACKS I MISSED A WEEK OF WORK DUE TO THIS EXPERIENCE, I SWEAR IT TOOK YEARS OFF MY LIFE. I HAD TO TAKE SO MUCH XANAX THAT DAY OR I WOULD HAVE NEVER MADE IT THROUGH THE CIVIL COURT. I WAS CLUELESS AS TO WHAT TO DO. WHAT HAPPENS IF THERE IS A JUDGMENT AGAINST YOU AND YOU DON'T PAY FOR A FEW MONTHS? BECAUSE THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED TO ME THERE ARE MANY REASONS FOR THIS HAPPENING. PLEASE HELP AND KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK

  October 8, 2007     I received a call today from "Michael Sanger" of the "Cambece Law Office." Mr. Sanger claims that they have contacted me in writing. He had my correct address. I have not received correspondence and insisted that they put all further communication in writing. This debt has already been through Arrow Financial and an attorney for Arrow - thought I'd established that my Social Security income is not sufficient to provide payment and that I would take every action legally available to me under Federal and State law to protect my bank account.

  August 8, 2007     My complaints are several. My sister in-law used my 82 Year old Mother's checking account to pay her debt collectors. This law firm continued to take monthly payments from my mom's account. (she used it for others also) U tried calling this law firm, and needless to say the people were rude, and not helpful. I sent emails, no response. My brother & sister in-laws phone has been shut off, and guess who called my mom looking for them! My concerns have also been addressed with Bank Of America. This 80+ year old had social security and pension checks deposited directly, but no other electronic payments. If this were a credit card BOA would have alerted her for unusual transactions. I am her power of attorney, and also on her account. When I call BOA I have been screened, and sometimes denied info! I am legit! I think Cambece uses unethical means.

  July 3, 2007     It may interest you to know that I, like many other people who visit your web site, have been victimized by CACV of Colorado and Cambece law firm. I decided to take action and contact the Massachusetts Attorney General. After repeated phone calls, and several fax transmissions, the office of the Attorney General took the following action against the Cambece law firm. A "settlement" was reached and Cambece law firm was ordered to pay 1> $45,000.00 to the Local Consumer Aid fund, attorney fees and costs in the amount of $10,000.00 and restitution up to $20,000.00 to qualifying consumers who filed written complaint with the Attorney General before 10/31/06. They have also been ordered to "make significant changes in its debt collection practices". While this may sound like I have made great leaps to make them accountable, I am told by a mediator in the AG office, that Cambece law firm "slips through a verbal loophole, in Massachusetts law" that allows them to continue to do EXACTLY what they have been doing! While I may have been able to hit the wallet, the double standard continues! Cambece claims they
are not a "collection agency, and do not report to credit bureaus" I can tell you I am the recipient of one of their false reporting!! Keep up the good work, but I, am EXHAUSTED! Having fought this battle for the past three years!!

  February 26, 2007     I just wanted to take a moment to thank you. Recently, I contacted you because I was being harassed by Cambece law Office. They were the dirt bags representing CACV AKA Collect America. Cambece continually contacted me attempting to collect a debt that I DID NOT OWE! I provided them with all documentation to prove the debt had been paid. I also sent Bud Hibbs cease communication letter, and requested an accounting of what I owed and why. They ignored everything I sent them, and proceeded to call me, harrass me, and threaten me....all for a debt I did not owe. When Tough Tony's thugs threatened to call my wife's employer, I decided that I was going to fight back. After contacting Bud Hibbs, I was put in touch with an NACA attorney. Well, as it turns out, not only was Cambece committing multiple criminal acts while trying to collect the supposed debt, but CACV was NOT EVEN A LICENSED DEBT COLLECTOR in my state! In light of these allegations, CACV and Cambece Law Office agreed to a settlement. My supposed debt was deleted from my credit report, and I now have a substantial savings account, which we plan to use for a well deserved vacation. Please, spread the word. Don't allow these scum bag debt collectors to harass you! Save EVERYTHING they send you, even the envelopes, and contact a lawyer if you feel they are harassing you!

  February 16, 2007     Boy, am I glad I found this site. Just got contacted today about a discharged MBNA loan. I have been working to reconcile my debt and had called MBNA to work our arrangements. I was told since my income had dropped, they were not going to come after me.  I knew it would impact my credit, but I figured I could shoulder that.

So Brian Boisson from Cambece calls me. I have been dealing with debt collectors, so I started asking questions about the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. He immediately tried to paint me for a fool and told me that since I didn't understand him, he was going to have his supervisor speak to me.

So then Jay Voci gets on the line and tries the same old tactics that many of you have described. I got really emotional and he told me that if I didn't stop crying he was going to have to hang up and tell CACH to sue me. I tried my best to pull it together, still unaware of these people being scam artists. He starts telling me all of this information about my father... like my dad's job and how many cars and houses he owns. He told me that he was authorized to pull my dad's credit report. I told him that I pay for my own mistakes and that I was not going to put that on my family. So then he tells me that I need to "swallow my pride and ask daddy for money". Then he said that if my dad didn't call him back in 25 minutes, he was going to recommend that the company sue me. So I was sufficiently freaked out enough to call my dad and let him know what was going on. So my dad calls the guy and tells him he must be out of his mind if he thinks we are going to pay him without any documentation and that if he wants us to pay, he has to send us a letter. So then the Jay guy said that my dad obviously doesn't love me because he won't pay for my debt. I am filling out my cease communication letter as soon as I finish this up. Screw those idiots.

  February 11, 2007     Here is the deal. I owe close to $3000.00 on a HSBC account. Hsbc sent a letter stating my account has been sold to Arrow Financial.  While at work today  my boss told me i have a message from a guy named Gabriel Perez from Cambece law. i call this guy and he acted polite at first and he told me that i have to pay them $2500.00 by 5pm today or else...I don't know his law firm nor did i get anything sent in paper. He said get the money from a friend or family member, Well i cant do that! I said that soon i would have some money to put down and i could pay them monthly payments until resolved. He said they do not take any payments other than $2500.00 today by 5pm..or there would be grave problems that he couldn't explain to me. So we each got off of the phone. Some friends said to get valid paper work from them. So i call back at around 4:30 and told him i was recording too, and asked for some type of letter to prove who they are. He said they will only fax something and that i was trying to buy more time. I don't have a fax machine. I told him i would call back he said The 2500.00 deal was off any he was perusing other actions. This whole thing is just shady. They won't work w/me. I found your site and it looks like my debt is w/ 3 of your worst top 10 Cambece, Arrow, Collect America. I have never been treated like this from a company.

  February 7, 2007     This is in regards to Cambece Law Firm. I had some issues with this firm a few years back. Just to clarify some things about garnishing wages. Most firms will NOT garnish wages if they think you are unreliable/suitable for wage garnishment. It is in some ways a last ditch effort by the firm to get money from you. Also, it MUST be approved by a judge. I got rid of dealing with Cambece by sending $50 per month. There is nothing a firm can do and will do if you are paying a decent monthly portion in ratio to your total debt. This is true for most cases; of course nothing is 100%. Good luck to all.

My husband and I have been dealing with Anthony V.( something Italian sounding) at this "law firm." They actually scared us into giving them our banking information. Well, that was before I goggled their name to try and find a mailing address for them, since we've received nothing from them in writing, and this site came up! Thank God for it, but what a horror to realize what a mistake we had just made. They threatened, "further action" and knew the names of our family members, which was creepy and they told us to call them and ask for money. Well, this debt was from a Bank of America credit card that my husband did have in his younger, more financially irresponsible days and part of the debt is in fact valid. However, where I am confused is that on his credit report it says "charged off as bad debt." So then I started to wonder how much of these several thousands of dollars Cambece was going to be taking from me was actually going to Bank of America if it has been charged off. And, Cambece promised to me that our credit report would say "Paid as agreed" once we paid them. They couldn't tell me what the interest amount was, but what they could tell me was that it couldn't be reduced and whatever amount it is was set by Bank of America back when he had the credit card in 2003. Well, I called Cambece back this morning and they agreed not to take any money (we'll see) because I told them there wasn't any money in there for them to take; it's 6 days until Christmas! What Grinches! He said I should as my family for thousands of dollars and settle this account before they have to proceed with "further action", which of course implies a law suit. I don't know what will happen, since we actually did owe Bank of America. I guess we will probably have to seek legal counsel to figure out what we should do. My husband is in the military and can be punished if his wages are garnished and Cambece has threatened to call his command (boss) and that would not be good for us. I hope no one else gives these people their banking inf  Military Family, South Carolina

These people, Cambece Law Office, either came to my home and left a note with my name, address, their phone number and the name Karen Fuller on a slip of paper, in my mailbox, or, they contacted one of my neighbors and had them leave the note in my mailbox. Now, the first instance is the one I am leaning toward. Only 2 of my neighbors know me well enough to know my first and last name and they would have hand delivered the note.

I called the phone number on the slip of paper, but since it was a Saturday I received only a voicemail. It was quite disturbing and worrisome that a Law Office had left a note in my mailbox, on a Saturday morning, when no one was home. I thought, "oh my god, someone wants to sue me or they must want something serious!"

Apparently they have a sharp caller ID system and called my home this morning, refusing to tell me what they wanted unless I first revealed personal information about myself, including previous addresses, maiden name etc. They hung up, when I refused to give them my info. When asked why they came to my house, they said they didn't and a neighbor left the note...WHAT?

Well, I called back, quite ticked off about these people and really wanting to know what they wanted to contact me about. So, an unidentified man answered the phone this time, knowing immediately that it was me and told me that I was being recorded (ooohhh, scary!). He told me all the information that the woman asked for and finally I told him to cut to the chase and tell me what he wanted. He said they were calling regarding a credit card debt for Chase Manhattan. Now I was REALLY TICKED OFF! These people either came to my house or contacted one of my unknown neighbors regarding a CREDIT CARD DEBT!!! WOW!! I hung up on him, in total disbelief!  Can these people do this?

I expect I will be getting future phone calls from them. What should I do? I don't plan on giving them a dime, for 2 reasons, A-don't have a dime to give and B-they seem like a bunch of losers.

I wish I would have found this website over a year ago and I would have saved my self about 3000.00. this company called me at work one night and kept me on the phone for over 30 min. they had me crying and saying stuff like you have to pay this now or we will sue. I said well, what if we and filed bankruptcy they said by the time we would get an automatic stay it would be too late. I told them I would make the monthly payments of 300.00/mth.

well, we did this from march of 2005 until November of 2005 and that's when we went to file bankruptcy. we should have did it sooner and we could kick ourselves in the but for not doing it sooner. but then Cambece kept sending us letters and calling me at work telling me that i needed to send them the money right then. well, Allison Sidebottom, told us that we had no right to stop payment on the check and that there was no way we could file bankruptcy. my husband basically told her yes we could and if she didn't believe him then call our attorney. not another word.

This is in regards to the post made on March 23, 2006. I made that post and let me tell you how I handled things. I sent them a letter requesting that communications stop. I also sent them a letter requesting that they send signed contracts-with my mothers signature-on the contract and prove that there in fact was a debt owed. Like I expected-they could not prove anything and now they are done and can not collect. I was also able to get this removed from my mothers credit because they did not comply. Thank you for this website. I did not know that we could handle these people this way. I did not know that we could fight back like this and it was legal. Thank you for your help. I now send everything certified return receipt and I document everything.

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